Residents shocked, devastated: Chesterfield teen’s death marks 9th juvenile shot in Richmond so far this year

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- Questions and heartbreak are still circling Richmond after a teenage girl was found fatally shot Thursday night at Ancarrow's Landing. This marks the ninth child shot in the city so far this year.

Richmond Police are not yet releasing the teenager's identity, but they confirm she was from North Chesterfield.

"I don't know what we can do, but I hope that there's something that we can [do] in the near future," Virginia Commonwealth University student Ashley Romero told our team as she took her dog on a walk in a park nearby.

Richmond residents said they were shocked and devastated to hear about this tragedy. It prompted many to continue their calls for change as law enforcement officials continue to dig into the many unanswered questions.

"It makes you think like, 'What really happened, what was the story? You know, why was she even here alone,' if that was the case?" Romero said.

Richmond police said they found the 17-year-old girl unresponsive in a wooded section along Brander Street just after 10 p.m. on Thursday, April 17, and that she died at the scene.

"Especially the youth, [they] should be able to not have to worry about any of that kind of stuff," Romero said.

Officials confirm this death is related to a quote "suspicious situation," which occurred the day prior at a parking deck on West Broad Street. Investigators will not provide details on this connection yet.

"We have just had this spate of violence in our community and specifically gun violence," Richmond Mayor Danny Avula said Thursday at a crime briefing held before the knowledge of this incident.

This also comes as the mayor announced the development of a new Office of Gun Violence Prevention. While the details and logistics of this effort are still in its early stages, officials said it will focus on mitigating gun violence among young people in the city.

"While no person being shot in our city is acceptable, it's even worse when it's a child," Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards said at the crime briefing as he broke down statistics surrounding juvenile gun violence in the city.

8News has asked both Chesterfield County and Richmond Police if this death is connected to a missing person's case out of Chesterfield last week, but law enforcement said they can not confirm new details at this time.